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GLOSSARY
ADMOR (Hebrew: Adonainu, Morainu, VeRabbeinu = Our Master, Our Teacher, and Our
Rebbe). A honorific title used for leaders of Hasidic sects. Such a leader is also called a rebbe
or a tzaddik.
AGUDAT ISRAEL (Hebrew: Union of Israel) – political party of orthodox Jews and opposing
Zionism. Founded in Katowice in 1912, the movement was supported by the traditionalist
orthodox Jews including a number of Hasidic groups. In the interwar period Agudat Israel
was a leading political power in most of the Jewish communities in Poland. Among its leaders
was the famous rabbi Abraham Mordechai Alter, who was from Góra Kalwaria and the
leader of Gerer Hasidism.
BEIT MIDRASH (Hebrew: house of study) – one of the main institutions and centers of the
orthodox community. A place of study of the Jewish religious texts, attended by boys and
adult men.
BUND (shortened from Yiddish: The General Union of Jewish Workers in Lithuania, Poland,
and Russia) Jewish socialist political party founded in Vilna in 1897.. In the interwar period
Bund was the largest Jewish workers' party in Poland. Members of Bund opposed both
orthodox Jews and Zionists.
CHEDER (Hebrew: room) elementary religious school for Jewish boys preparing for
continuing education in a yeshiva. A cheder can be private or affiliated with a social
organization. Education in a cheder started between the age of 3 and 5 and ends around 13.
Students at cheder were taught reading and writing in Hebrew, rote learning of selected
passages from the Hebrew Bible, with Pentateuch in particular.
DAYAN (Hebrew: judge) – judge of the religious court (beit din), usually comprising three
judges. The court would be headed by the president (av beit din). Every community had its
own court which convened on market days.
GENERAL ZIONISTS (also Zionist Organization in Poland, est. 1916) – was the most powerful
Zionist party in interwar Poland, affiliated with the World Zionist Organization. Its basic
agenda was the guaranteed creation of the Jewish national home in Palestine.
HASIDISM (Hebrew: hasid = pious) – Jewish movement of religious revival started in 18 th
century in Podole and Volhynia. Its founding has been traditionally ascribed to Rabbi Israel
ben Eliezer, known as the Baal Shem Tov (Master of the Good Name) of Medzhibizh
(1698/1700–1760). The opponents of Hasidism were misnagdim (Hebrew: opponents)
representing traditional Judaism. The most famous Hasidic courts include those from Góra
Kalwaria, Bobowa, Kock, Lublin, Leżajsk, Rymanów, Opatów, Nowy Sącz and Przysucha.
HITAHDUT (Hebrew: Union) – The Zionist Labor Party Hitahdut was a secular organization
combining national (Zionist) and socialist program. Founded in 1920 in Prague, the party was
Copyright © 2011 by the Auschwitz Jewish Center. All rights reserved.
joined by intellectuals and working youth. According to Aron David Gordon, whose ideas
inspired Hitahdut, the future Jewish national home was to be built according to the
principles of equality but not through revolution.
JEWISH CEMETERY (Hebrew: beit olam i.e., house of the eternal world or beit chayim, house
of (eternal) life). Jewish cemeteries, like other cemeteries are located outside of residential
areas for hygienic purposes. Some Jewish cemetery customs are to bury the dead in
chronological order (rather than by family) and to bury women, men and children are buried
separately. Other traditions are not to bury a righteous person near a thief and to bury
suicides and apostates near the cemetery fence. When there was not enough space, the old
graves were buried with soil, about two meters deep, so that the former grave was
undamaged.
JEWISH COMMUNITY (Hebrew: kehillah) – the basic communal structure in Judaism. The
term can mean either the community with its internal organization and self-government or
the self-government itself. The Jewish community would organize the whole of Jewish life in
the area and supervise its institutions: synagogues, courts, philanthropies and ritual baths.
LEAGUE FOR LABOR PALESTINE (full name: League for the Support of Labor in Palestine) was
a coordinating body for organizations supporting the Zionist labor movement in Palestine.
The main office of the League was located in Warsaw. The member organizations included
Hitahdut, He-Halutz, Ha-Shomer Ha-Tzair and Poalei Zion-Right.
MATZEVAH (Hebrew: tombstone) – traditional Jewish tombstone. Usually in the form of an
upright stone or wooden headstone crowned with a rectangular, triangular or semicircular
ornamentation and placed at the head of the buried. Inscriptions on matzevot can include
biographical information and carvings can reflect religious or social status of the deceased.
MASKIL (Hebrew: enlightened, intellectual) – term used to describe followers of Haskalah or
Jewish Enlightenment. The maskilim sought to replace the traditional forms of Jewish life
and the cultural separation with legal, professional and linguistic integration with the nonJewish environment around them. Still they wanted to maintain religious separation,
although in a modernized form. The maskilim attached special importance to education,
upbringing and literature.
MEZUZAH (Hebrew: doorframe) A piece of parchment placed in a decorative case on a
doorframe. The parchment is inscribed with handwritten verses of the Jewish prayer Shema
Israel (Hebrew: Hear O Israel) and two passages from Deuteronomy.
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MIZRACHI (literally „eastern” but also a contraction of the Hebrew words: merkaz ruhani =
spiritual center. A political party which promoted Zionism among orthodox Jews. Established
in 1902 in Vilna, the movement followed the slogan of Meir Bar Ilan, one of its leaders: the
Land of Israel for the People of Israel according to the Torah of Israel.
OHEL (Hebrew: tent) – wooden or brick structure built over a grave of a distinguished rabbi
or tzaddik and his male descendants. Such monuments are visited by Hasidim from all over
the world. The locations with main oholot include Aleksandrów, Bobowa, Chrzanów, Góra
Kalwaria, Kock, Lelów, Nowy Sącz.
ORTHODOXY (from Greek: orthodoxos "having the right opinion", in this context: orthodox
Judaism) – a Jewish denomination emerged in response to Haskalah or Jewish
Enlightenment, at the end of 18th century and following emancipation. Orthodox Jews
advocate traditional Judaism and oppose changes in Jewish way of life and any alterations in
the religious observance. A wide range of Jewish groups are considered orthodox including
modern orthodox, Haredi, Hasidic and others.
PESACH (Hebrew: passed over); also Passover. One of the oldest and most important Jewish
holidays. The festival commemorates the liberation of Israelites from slavery in Egypt.
RABBI (Hebrew: my master, teacher) – sprititual leader of the Jewish community, learned in
Halakhah (rabbinic law) and ordained in a special ceremony called smichah. Rabbis
traditionally taught, supervised kosher food, mediated disputes and officiated at lifecycle
events. Rabbis are usually hired by the Jewish community.
REVISIONISTS (full name: Organization of Zionist-Revisionists in Poland, later called New
Zionist Organization) – Zionist political party founded and headed by Vladimir Jabotinsky.
Until 1935 it remained within the World Zionist Organization. The Revisionists aimed at the
creation of the Jewish state on both sides of Jordan river to be achieved by means of armed
struggle.
SHAMMES – (Hebrew: shammash – servant) a Jewish institution and organization official.
The shammes played various roles depending on the institution to which he was connected.
His varied jobs included: calling men for prayers, synagogue cleaner, tax collector, bailiff,
process server, secretary and messenger. It was a prestigious function performed usually by
impoverished members of the community.
SHTIBL – (Yiddish: small room) – a room for prayer and study and a center of the Hasidic
social life typical for Eastern Europe. Usually small in size and modest in decoration.
SHUL – traditional term for the synagogue. In Poland the word shul usually referred to
synagogues of the misnagdim or opponents to Hasidism. Also Ashkenazi Jews coming to
Poland from Western Europe would use the term to describe their houses of prayer.
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SUKKOT (Hebrew: sukkah = booth). One of the agricultural festivals celebrated for 7 days
after the harvest (September-October). Booths are constructed as reminiscence of the type
of dwellings used by ancient Israelites during their 40 years of wandering after the Exodus
from Egypt and a symbol of the divine attention. In the sukkah meals are eaten, prayers
recited and some sleep there as well. It is a happy holiday during which sweet dishes are
served as a symbol of prosperity.
SYNAGOGUE (from Greek: assembly); house of prayer in Judaism. In traditional synagogues,
there are separate sections for men and women. An aron ha-kodesh (holy ark) contains
scrolls of the Torah, which are read from a bimah (a raised reading table) during some of the
services. Customarily, the congregants face the eastern wall, which is where the aron is
located and is in the direction of Jerusalem.
TALMUD (Hebrew: instruction, learning) – the classic record of the oral tradition in Judaism
also known as the Oral Torah. Talmud has two components: Mishnah and Gemara. It
contains commentaries to Torah, rabbinical discussions and considerations, moral guidelines
and tales. Two compilations were created: Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmud. The study of
the Talmud remains a key component of Jewish education, especially in traditional circles.
TORAH (Hebrew: law, instruction) – the holy book of Judaism. Also known as the Five Books
of Moses which include Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is
the holiest object for the Jews. Torah scrolls written on parchment and kept in Aron haKodesh in the synagogue are read during services.
TZADDIK (Hebrew: righteous) – charismatic leader of a Hasidic community, also known as
rebbe or an admor. According to Elimelekh of Lhizensk (Leżajsk), a tzaddik is a kind of
“channel” through which divine abundance could be brought down from the supernal
worlds to our own. Most of tzaddikim established dynasties, passing on the leadership to
their sons, sons-in-law or leading disciples.
YESHIVA (Hebrew: academy) – Talmudic school attended by boys following graduation from
cheder. The curriculum would include the study of Talmud and rabbinical literature.
Education at this level would start at the age of 13-14 and end at 20+.
ZIONISM – Jewish political movement founded in the late 19th century and aiming at Jewish
national renewal and creation of the Jewish state in Palestine. The cornerstone for the
Zionism was laid by the book of its founder Theodor Herzl: The Jewish State. The first Zionist
Congress convened in Basel in 1897. The ideas of Zionism were embodied in the creation of
the State of Israel in 1948.
Copyright © 2011 by the Auschwitz Jewish Center. All rights reserved.